Gaining tenure - 06-15-10
The Maple Leafs just named a new captain yesterday in defenseman Dion Phaneuf. The Sharks' current captain, Rob Blake, is on the verge of retiring.
This past season, we saw seven teams name new captains.
While the "C" on a player's chest stands for a lot of things - maturity, leadership, ability - it also used to stand for longevity. There was a time not long ago when players such as Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman and Markus Naslund held on to that position for the better part of a a decade. Now, it seems like teams go through captains like they were call-ups from the AHL.
Remember when Sidney Crosby (above, with Flyers captain Mike Richards) was named the Penguins' captain in the 2007 offseason? Remember how new and fresh that seemed? He was all of 20 years old and he was the NHL's youngest captain by leaps and bounds.
Three years later, he's already seventh most tenured captain in the NHL.
Only one captain - Daniel Alfredsson of the Senators - has served in his position for more than a decade. His captaincy actually predates two franchises. The Blue Jackets and Wild began play in 2000, one year after Alfredsson had a "C" sewn on his chest.
List of all 28 captains in the NHL (the Canadiens and Thrashers don't currently have captains) and the chronological order of their tenure:
| Player, Team | Named Captain |
| 1. Daniel Alfredsson, Senators | Oct. 2, 1999 |
| 2. Shane Doan, Coyotes | Sept. 11, 2003 |
| 3. Jarome Iginla, Flames | Oct. 8, 2003 |
| 4. Breden Morrow, Stars | Sept. 29, 2006 |
| 5. Zdeno Chara, Bruins | Oct. 3, 2006 |
| 6. Nicklas Lidstrom, Red Wings | Oct. 5, 2006 |
| 7. Sidney Crosby, Penguins | May 31, 2007 |
| 8. Jason Arnott, Predators | Sept. 12, 2007 |
| 9. Ethan Moreau, Oilers | Oct. 2, 2007 |
| 10. Jamie Langenbrunner, Devils | Dec. 5, 2007 |
| 11. Eric Brewer, Blues | Feb. 8, 2008 |
| 12. Rick Nash, Blue Jackets | March 12, 2008 |
| 13. Jonathan Toews, Blackhawks | July 17, 2008 |
| 14. Mike Richards, Flyers | Sept. 17, 2008 |
| 15. Vincent Lecavalier, Lighting | Sept. 18, 2008 |
| 16. Roberto Luongo, Canucks | Sept. 30, 2008 |
| 17. Chris Drury, Rangers | Oct. 2, 2008 |
| 18. Scott Niedermayer, Ducks | Oct. 7, 2008 |
| 19. Dustin Brown, Kings | Oct. 8, 2008 |
| Craig Rivet, Sabres | Oct. 8, 2008 |
| 21. Adam Foote, Avalanche | Sept. 11, 2009 |
| 22. Bryan McCabe, Panthers | Sept. 23, 2009 |
| 23. Rob Blake, Sharks | Sept. 30, 2009 |
| 24. Doug Weight, Islanders | Oct. 2, 2009 |
| 25. Mikko Koivu, Wild | Oct. 20, 2009 |
| 26. Alex Ovechkin, Capitals | Jan. 5, 2010 |
| 27. Eric Staal, Hurricanes | Jan. 20, 2010 |
| 28. Dion Phaneuf, Maple Leafs | June 14, 2010 |
| Canadiens – No captain | -- |
| Thrashers – No captain | -- |
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)